MINOT — Selectmen on Monday agreed that renovations to the two major fire stations must go through a formal bid process.

At a March town meeting voters approved $180,000 for construction of a 20-by-40-foot addition at Orchard Fire Station and an 18-by-60-foot addition at Central Fire Station.

Since then, fire Chief Dean Campbell has been working on requests for proposals for the projects.

Town Administrator Arlan Saunders told the board that Campbell is waiting for one more quote and will bring all of them to the board in two weeks.

Selectmen were concerned there had been no legal advertisement for bids and agreed that advertising, particularly given the amount of money involved, is a standard that all municipal departments should be following.

By unanimous vote, selectmen agreed that the projects would have to go out to bid with a written specification for each project, legal advertisements published and sealed bids due at the Town Office by a specified date. The bids would be opened at a selectmen’s meeting.

The board also met with Lana Rauberson, sister of Roland Rauberson, whose Woodman Hill Road property was foreclosed upon Jan. 15 by the town for back taxes. She requested a 90-day extension for her brother on the sale of the property.

Roland Rauberson had been informed that if he wanted to redeem his property by paying all back taxes, interest and fees, he had until April 21, otherwise the town was going to sell the property.

The board decided it would not grant an extension and the sale would proceed if Rauberson hadn’t redeemed it by April 21.

Lana Rauberson said she would pay the amount needed to redeem the property for her brother before the April 21 deadline.

At the request of Regional School Unit 16 officials, selectmen agreed to change the date for the school budget validation vote from June 2 to June 9. The change was to accommodate Mechanic Falls’ voting schedule.

Selectmen, having heard comments about possible illegal junkyards at numerous locations, agreed that board members would make a list of properties that meet the definition of a junkyard: three or more unregistered motor vehicles on a property.

“We are trying to make Minot an attractive place to live and work,” Selectman Eda Tripp said.

Saunders also noted that, as of this week, the highway crew has switched to summer hours of 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

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